AP
According to The Wrap, the producers of Iron Crosssued Variety yesterday over an alleged accept-cash-then-trash scheme.

Cross production company Calibra Pictures claims that Variety editors convinced them to hand out $400,000 for an Oscar promotional campaign that would include front-page ads in the trade publication.

The Wrap: But after the trade had taken in more than $220,000 from Calibra, the trade published a freelancer's review that the lawsuit claims "seriously undermined, if not completely destroyed" any chance that Roy Scheider's final film had at an award or a distribution deal, the lawsuit states.

Freelancer Robert Koehler's review dubbed the film "hackneyed," "preposterous," "mediocre," "choppy," and "uncertain," according to Gawker, which had to dig up the review from Google's cache after Variety removed it from its site following the producer's whining to publisher Brian Gott.

Wrap: Counts include breach of contract and fiduciary duty, negligence, fraud and unfair business practices. It seeks unspecified damages in excess of $25,000 and a jury trial. (To see a copy of the entire contract between Calibra and Variety, click here)

Variety has since regrown some ethical courage and reposted the review, which Calibra calls "inaccurate and hostile" in its suit.